HELLO breath
I really love breath-work and have been finding it an amazing source of energy, clarity and wisdom for years now, just as you have. Like you, Justine, I do believe this is a way forward for so many people, because it WORKS! The more people who can become conscious of body mind and spirit, the more likely it is that the human race can survive.
Scilla Elworthy, Three-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee, Founder of Peace Direct, author of Business Plan For Peace and Pioneering The Possible
I first became aware of my breath in my twenties, when I began a rather strenuous 6am daily ritual of Ashtanga Yoga Mysore style. It was all the rage and rather amusingly as I look back now, I wanted to look and feel just like the very vocal and famous early adopters of the time, Sting and Madonna. Yet it was all about pushing my body to the limits and a few years later, with several injuries under my belt, I learned that this was not such a good idea after all. But on the plus side, there were incredible internal benefits, which were ground-breaking for me. Learning for the first time how to observe, move, slow and speed up my breath was a revelation and something I’d never considered before. Noticing the effect it had on my stress levels, my immunity and my ability to be present in any given moment, was a revelation.
Fast forward five years and reading an article one day in the Sunday Times Style magazine about the transformative power of the breath, I was immediately fascinated by the potential of Conscious Connected Breath. Unlike the Pranayama I’d practised with yoga, this felt gentler, deeper and more, well, conscious. I booked a place on a retreat in Lanzarote and spent five glorious days exploring not just the landscape and my place in the world, but gradually noticing that something was changing, shifting and evolving in me when I began to breathe - I mean truly breathe. It sounds cliché, but there really was a feeling of returning to myself. It appeared first in my diminishing stress levels and my growing ability to observe rather than fall into my emotions. And then in a matter of weeks I noticed my dramatically improved circulation. I’ve suffered most of my adult life with Raynaud’s disease in my hands and once I began a regular Conscious Connected Breath practice, it completely disappeared and has never returned.
And then, as I began my teacher training as a Breathwork coach, back amongst the volcanoes of Lanzarote, there came a deeper knowing. An understanding that for so many years I had lost something fundamental that was crucial to living a balanced, healthy and happy life. And I hadn’t even noticed. Breathwork has brought me so many benefits and with those, an integration of self - of body, mind and soul. And with each inhale I take, I discover more of this incredible wisdom.
Something has brought you here. It may be curiosity? It may be for some of the health reasons I mention above. Either way, you’re here because something in you wants to change. Whatever the reason, re-learning the forgotten art of breathing is suitable for almost everyone, whether you're nine (parent assisted) or ninety; a frazzled mum or dad; a burnt out corporate professional or an anxious teenager. Whether it's for a specific problem or for general wellbeing. You won't need any lycra, just a safe comfortable space in your home for a virtual session, or the ability to get to me for an in-person session. You could call it your birthright. I’d love to teach you, too, and to share this powerful, forgotten art far and wide. I want you to know it, too. To feel it and to see it with your own eyes. To breathe and uncover who you really are and what you’re truly capable of.
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“But what’s the goal?” you may ask me. "Optimum physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health”, I’ll reply. “But I don’t have time!” you may exclaim. And I can confidently tell you, that within a relatively short space of time, usually an hour and fifteen minutes for a workshop or a 1-1 session and around ten to thirty minutes self-practice a day, you’ll begin to experience the benefits of breathwork all for yourself.